''Acacia paula'' is a shrub belonging to the genus ''
Acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
'' and the subgenus ''Juliflorae'' that is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to a small area of north western
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Description
The low prostrate shrub has many small branches sprouting from subterranean rootstock. The
glabrous, green to brown , virgate and angular branchlets often have resin-crenulated ridges. Like most species of ''Acacia'' it has
phyllode
Phyllodes are modified petioles or leaf stems, which are leaf-like in appearance and function. In some plants, these become flattened and widened, while the leaf itself becomes reduced or vanishes altogether. Thus the phyllode comes to serve the ...
s rather than true leaves. The evergreen phyllodes have a linear shape and are quite flat and straight with a length of and a width of . They are usually slightly resinous and have one to two more prominent, excentric longitudinal veins with many inconspicuous parallel minor veins.
It flowers from February to June producing yellow flowers.
[ It produces cylindrical to spherical flower-spikes with a length of that are densely packed with golden flowers. Following flowering light brown coloured ]seed pod
This page provides a glossary of plant morphology. Botanists and other biologists who study plant morphology use a number of different terms to classify and identify plant organs and parts that can be observed using no more than a handheld magnify ...
s form that have a linear shape and are mostly flat and straight but are lightly curved at the apex. The pods have a length of and a width of and are tapered at base and apex. The dark brown seeds inside are arranged obliquely and have an elliptic shape but are dorsoventrally flattened with a length of around .[
]
Distribution
It is native to a small area in the East Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
* Kimberley (Western Australia)
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley
* Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania
* Kimberley, Tasmania a small town
* County of Kimberley, a ...
region of Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
where it grows in gravelly lateritic
Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...
soils.Corymbia confertiflora
''Corymbia confertiflora'', commonly known as broad-leaved carbeen or rough leaf cabbage gum, is a species of tree that is endemic to northern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark near the base of the trunk, smooth white to pale grey bark ...
''.
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15288317
paula
Acacias of Western Australia
Plants described in 1990
Taxa named by Mary Tindale